Transfer to Switched Account Gone Missing


Daughter transferred £2500 from her Halifax current account to my current account using an "existing payee" that she'd used before for money transfers. Unfortunately, she'd not realised that I transferred my current account from Halifax (existing payee) to a Nationwide account using Nationwide's switching service 18mths ago.
Realising what had happened when the funds hadn't arrived, she spoke to Halifax and they advised her to file a payment in error / credit recovery report.This she duly did and has since been informed that the money has left the Halifax and whilst the Halifax have contacted the recipient's bank, the recipient's bank has forwarded the funds to the recipient and therefore they can not recover the funds.
Oh and they advise next steps - take professional legal advice.
I speak to Nationwide, both the adviser and her management confirm that there is no evidence of any transfer being made in, nor is there is evidence of a trace / contact from Halifax re: this transaction.
My daughter spent 90mins on the phone to Halifax earlier, I spent 2h on the phone to them as the owner of the account that has been switched but to no avail. The adviser I spoke to couldn't understand what had happened - as the account was switched within the last 3y, either my old Halifax account would redirect it to the Nationwide account, or it would bounce the funds back to my daughter's Halifax. There should be a clear audit trail showing the money going from daughter's Halifax account, to my switched Halifax account to my Nationwide account. No one can help, a bank process has syphoned the money off somewhere and no one can tell me where it is, and provide reassurance that it will be returned to my daughter to forwarded to me.
Any advice / what to do next? Daughter is beside herself with worry as she thinks she's lost the money. TIA
Comments
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The account / bank you've switched to need to take responsibility for this.
Provide them with the payment information, including the unique payment number provided by Halifax.
Under CASS rules that is the correct procedure1 -
thewagster said:I spent 2h on the phone to them as the owner of the account that has been switched but to no avail. The adviser I spoke to couldn't understand what had happened - as the account was switched within the last 3y, either my old Halifax account would redirect it to the Nationwide account, or it would bounce the funds back to my daughter's Halifax. There should be a clear audit trail showing the money going from daughter's Halifax account, to my switched Halifax account to my Nationwide account.
However, the fact that your old account was with the same bank as the sender's may influence this somehow, if Halifax perhaps use some variant of the standard transfer process for 'internal' ones.thewagster said:Realising what had happened when the funds hadn't arrived, she spoke to Halifax and they advised her to file a payment in error / credit recovery report.This she duly did and has since been informed that the money has left the Halifax and whilst the Halifax have contacted the recipient's bank, the recipient's bank has forwarded the funds to the recipient and therefore they can not recover the funds.
Oh and they advise next steps - take professional legal advice.1 -
When was the transfer made. Most likely it's sitting in an internal suspense account awaiting processing somewhere. As this is undertaken manually might be some time. Banks unfortunately won't prioritise a single transaction just work their way though the pile one by one.1
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Daughter transferred £2500 from her Halifax current account to my current account using an "existing payee" that she'd used before for money transfers.
Is she absolutely certain that the existing payee account to which the payment was directed was in fact your old account?
0 -
Thanks @penners324 and @eskbanker
Advice from both banks has been very poor - spoke to Nationwide (bank I've switched to) for the third time today. I'd read up on CASS overnight - Nationwide's representative disagreed and read an extract from their procedures which puts the onus on the transferring bank. The representative couldn't offer me any process for Nationwide to investigate what had happened.
@eskbanker Halifax have confirmed to my daughter that the money has definitely been sent to my old account.
Daughter has raised a complaint with Halifax. I've contacted CASS asking them for advice re: what I should do - they've responded very quickly and rather than provide advice, they will look into the matter.
Finger crossed!
1 -
xylophone said:Daughter transferred £2500 from her Halifax current account to my current account using an "existing payee" that she'd used before for money transfers.
Is she absolutely certain that the existing payee account to which the payment was directed was in fact your old account?
2 -
thewagster said:Thanks @penners324 and @eskbanker
Advice from both banks has been very poor - spoke to Nationwide (bank I've switched to) for the third time today. I'd read up on CASS overnight - Nationwide's representative disagreed and read an extract from their procedures which puts the onus on the transferring bank. The representative couldn't offer me any process for Nationwide to investigate what had happened.We will arrange for payments accidentally made to
I would be making a complaint to the Nationwide.
your old account to be automatically redirected to
your new account. We will also contact the sender
and give them your new account details.
Let's Be Careful Out There2 -
I've contacted CASS asking them for advice re: what I should do - they've responded very quickly and rather than provide advice, they will look into the matter.
https://www.currentaccountswitch.co.uk/
Current Account
Switch Guarantee
We have designed the Current Account Switch Service
to let you switch your current account from one bank
or building society to another in a simple, reliable and
stress-free way. It will only take seven working days.
As your new current-account provider we offer the
following guarantee.
• The service is free to use and you can choose and
agree your switch date with us.
• We will take care of moving all your payments
going out (for example, your Direct Debits and
standing orders) and those coming in (for example,
your salary).
• If you have money in your old account, we will
transfer it to your new account on your switch date.
• We will arrange for payments accidentally made to
your old account to be automatically redirected to
your new account. We will also contact the sender
and give them your new account details.
https://www.wearepay.uk/what-we-do/switching-services/current-account-switch-service/
The Current Account Switch Service makes switching a current account between banks and building societies simple, reliable and stress-free. The service is free-to-use and available to individuals, small businesses, charities and trusts.
Launched in 2013, the service has gone on to facilitate the switching of over nine million current accounts in the UK, and helped to transform a process which previously could be lengthy and complicated, and which carried uncertainty that all payments would be captured in a switch. It has also been highlighted as an example of best practice, with countries around the world interested in replicating its success.
Importantly, the service is backed by a switch guarantee, ensuring that all payments associated with the customer’s old account, which is closed on completion, will be switched to the new account and ready for use with effect from a pre-agreed switch date.
As a result of a switch, which takes seven working days, any payments that continue to be made to, or collected from, the old account will be automatically redirected to the customer’s new account. The redirection facility will be undertaken for a minimum of three years or longer if needed.
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Thanks @xylophone and @HillStreetBlues - I'd read up on CASS (couldn't post the link as a relative newbie on here) but despite me reading this out to the customer service representative, their procedures apparently say no and I can't ask them to escalate.
I'll see what CASS do, I'll get the money found and then the complaint will be made,
1 -
eskbanker said:
However, the fact that your old account was with the same bank as the sender's may influence this somehow, if Halifax perhaps use some variant of the standard transfer process for 'internal' ones.0
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